Child Support

Child Support

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Kate Cooper Richardson, Director

The Division of Child Support (DCS) is dedicated to improving the well-being of Oregon's children. This means working with both parents to ensure that that every child receives the financial and emotional support they need to grow and thrive. Every year the Child Support Program enables more than 450,000 parents to provide for their children. Child support services are available to both custodial and non-custodial parents. Caretakers or relatives who have physical custody of a child may also be entitled to child support services.

The Child Support Program provides assistance with the following services:

Establishing paternity (who the child's biological father is)

Finding the non-custodial parent

Establishing a child support order or making changes to an existing support order

Coordinating health care coverage for a child

Determining the amount of past due child support

Collecting child support payments

Collecting spousal support payments when spousal support is part of a child support order

These activities have the benefit of helping children in need, encouraging family self-sufficiency, returning money to the public treasury and reducing the state's costs in providing public assistance. The Child Support Program also assists employers to understand and comply with legal obligations such as reporting new hires, withholding income, and enrolling dependents in medical insurance plans if available. For more information see oregonchildsupport.gov.